Tire-protective armor.



. G. THDIISON.'y

TIRE PROTECTIVE ARMOR. PPLIOATION Hun nov. s`, 1909.

Patented Nov. 15, w10.

Wifi: asses .ZZ ven for' ,zrf/zar @al Hamann www `2o construction and combination of parts as 40 this flexible strip or ,sheathing 3 .the tire I :J5 the weight of the load `will be such that'the narran enanas rarer-ir onreine.

.ARTHUR GALE THOMSON, OF SAN FRANCISCO. CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF LNE-HALF T ALBERT SUTTON, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. i

TIRE-PROTECTIVE ARMOR.

976,01 K Specification of Letters Patent. Pattentgd NV, l5, j ljq. Application filed November 3, 1909. Serial No. 526,012.

sections resting on thetround will be in snug contact with the tire at its side edges, so that no part of the tire will be exposed to puncture. f

The tongues 6 are dis osed on top or on' to the side next to the iexi le sheathing 3 and centrally of the tread portion, and veach tongue slightly over-hangs ethe'body of the plate, the tongue being approx'unately half the thickness of the platen The plate on top e5 is cut out at the base en dnieachl side of To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR GALE THOM- soN, citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco and 5 State of California, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in yTire-.Protective Arior, of which the following is a specifica tion.

This invention `relates to flexible a'rmorsl lo for automobile and like pneumatic tires.

The object of the present invention, aside from protecting the tire against puncture, is

o combine in an armor lightness .and durametal armor and a leather armor, and to pre- `veritsiple play and slip and obviate any noise due o the movementof the armor sections one on the other.

he invention consistsof the parts and the termediate central mortise Thus it willbe 70' or that side 'nearest the sheathing 3,;projecting tongues, one on one side and two on the l, opposite side, the first mentioned tongue being approximately twice the vwidth of, and 75 posed between, the opposed tongues; also, that each plate has a mortise 7 between the two tongues 9, which mortise corresponds to a tongue 6 on another plate; and also, that the plate has the two side mortises 8 to re- $0 ceivel a pair of corres onding roiecting tongues 9 of another p ate. Allpcf these tongues are slightly tapered toward their, ends, so that they have a rocking ball joint action in their corresponding mortises as S5 the Wheel travels over the ground and as the armor adapts itself to the inner qualities thereof. These various interlockingv tongues land grooves prevent side play of the sections hereinafter more fully described and claimed, having reference to the accompanyinidrawings, in which` igure l is a side elevation of the lower portion of a wheel showing the invention as applied. Fig. 2 is across-section. Fi 3 is 'aA perspective view'of an armor section.l Fi 4 is a longitudinal section.

represents an ordinary automobile wheel provided with a clencher or like rim 2,.to which the tire is secured inany suitable v i ashion.

,z 3 is a" flexible leather strip encircling the whole tire' with the edges of the strip brought over the tlre and close down to the rim and suitably secured thereto, as by the hooks 4 engaging beneath the rim and between the rim and the ordinary tire Hanges. My invention resides in combining with tire 1n circumferential alinement.

he metal plates are always in contact with one another, and experienceshows that there is no click or noise while traveling over even a stone-block pavement. The 95 leather or like sheathing strip 3 gives a perfectly smooth, inside seating for the tire.-

he plates easily' bend one on' the other to adapt the armor to the tire, and the leather sheathing with its flexible sides makes the 100 armoreasy to handle, reduces the weight, and renders the tire comparatively cheap to manufacture.' The spaces betweenthe adjacent armorplates 5 alord a goed traction.

p he sections 'are'riveted close enoughto- 105 ether so that the armor can bend baci: and orth suciently as not to interfere with` the natural resiliency of the tire, and at the. .same time the plat-osare so interlocked by theirtongues and grooves that the amount 119 armor sections 5 which are of metal and of a width equal to the tread; these sections being riveted or otherwise permanently secured to 4 the flexible sheathing 3, and each section having a central tongue 6 adapted to engage and linterlock with a correspondin oove or mortise 7 of an adjacent section, 1s vinterlocking arran ement of these plates or armor sections 1s of the essence of the invention. l

The plates are preferably drop-forged, are nearly ifi/at, and their transverse width, u, their greatest dimension, is such ha? erPthe armor'isiin place on' the tire,

and so maintain the protective portion of the of bending movement' back and forth of the plates Wil be limited. As a rule, the lates are so positioned that when they are riveted and aniordinary steel rim, as I have pointed out, that this articulated rim of mine is able to flatten as it comes onto the ground yand to bend inwardly sufficiently when it strikes 1 rock or chuck-hole, to thus give the deired' resiliency to the tire, and not interfere wittheeasy riding qualities of the vehicle.

Having `thus/described my invention, what I claim and desireto secure by Letters Patent is- A tire armor, comprisingl a flexible pro- Y tective stripto embrace the tire, and metallic plates secured to`said strip, said plates being relatively thin and substantially ilat having the corner portions of one surface at y one end recessed with an intermediate por-V tion of the, full thickness of the plate extending forward of the edge of said plate to form a projecting tongue; the opposite surface of the.r other end of the plate being correspondingly recessed across saidend and the surface of the plate at this end thereof having'a depression in line with the tongue portion at'the opposite'endof the plate and adapted to receivei'a corresponding tongue of afiadjacent plate, said' protective strip.

serving as a backing for'the'metal plates, and being rigidly connected to the latter, and `the tongue and corresponding recessed portions forming a 'joint about-Which the plates may have a rockin bearing.

In testimony whereof have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. l

1 ARTHUR GALE THOMSON. Witnesses: CHARLES A. PENFmLD,

,CHARLES EDELMAN. 

